Candidate selector Jefferson County Commission, 3rd District

Welcome to our candidate selector for Jefferson County Commission, 3rd District. It's a fun and educational tool that can help you decide which candidate(s) you agree with the most.

Here's how it works. Below, we've listed a set of issues and the candidates' positions on these issues. Check the box next to a candidate's response if you agree with it. After you're done, we'll tell you which candidate(s) you agreed with the most.

Please note that this is meant to be fun and educational - but shouldn't necessarily be used as the de facto way of making such an important decision. We encourage you to learn as much as you can about each candidate.

What are the biggest issues facing Jefferson County in the next few years?

Road and bridges are number one, storage facilities for county records are another issue.

Spending and taxation.

What areas of the county budget should be reduced, what areas should be increased?

I believe all areas could be reduced.

This is an area that I would want to scrutinize the budget to make that kind of decision.

How do you intend to grow the tax base in Jefferson County?

A decrease in our sales tax could encourage growth & more investment in the county.

I would use common sense with zoning matters to encourage people to move to Jefferson County. I would also see if there is some way to help businesses stay in business, perhaps by lowering taxes.

Do you support a 1 percent sales tax to finance hard surfacing of county roads?

The sunset provision helps, but I don't think the one percent will do everything that was promised. Also if we keep raising the sales tax, it will cause people to purchase in areas with lower sales tax.

I would not be in favor of the sales tax increase. If voters make that choice the concern will be the cost of maintaining those hard surfaced roads after the expiration of that sales tax.

How would you increase state funds for Jefferson County?

I would visit with state representatives and the state senator to have them help Jefferson County.

A decrease in what the state takes from Jefferson County would be the best way to achieve that.

What would be your top priority if elected to the Commission?

I would watch county spending, and reduce it so that when we get valuation increases, we don't get automatic tax increases. I would also lower the mill levy.

My top priority would be to take better care of taxpayers money. One way to do that would be to decrease the amount of road and bridge equipment purchased and utilize the $300,000 county shop that the county has for repairs on existing equipment.